The Salinger Contract

"Adam is a writer and stay-at-home dad in Bloomington, Indiana, drawn into an uneasy friendship with the charismatic and bestselling thriller author Connor Joyce. Conner is having trouble writing his next book, and when a menacing stranger approaches him with an odd and lucrative proposal, events quickly begin to spiral out of control"--P. [4] of cover.

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Written by a former Chicagoan it's a really interesting premise of a story within a story ... lots of namedropping of certain kinds of authors, lots of literary references, some dark humor, some suspense as well as some commentary about the worlds of publishing and academia. It's well written, but would have been even better if parts of it did not sound so whiny.

This was another of those last decision reads as I left the library. I really enjoy starting books that I have little or no idea what the novel is about... the fact that 'Salinger' was in the title, that was just a bonus. This book in a nutshell was about famous authors, and those who follow them - and their ideas. How Langer was able to make a thriller so brilliant that posed these questions, I don't know. I do know however that this book was very worth the read.

Terrific story weaving crime fiction and the art of fiction, or perhaps rather the art of authorship. Lagner has a lot of fun with his subject, keeps great pace, and keeps the novel short enough that the story never lags. Looking forward to reading his earlier work.